Kamma/ karma

1. Kamma/ karma

2. Chance or karma ? • Consider the following : I find a £5 in the road I drop a vase I win the lottery What do you think- chance or karma ?

3. Kamma means action . That is , the law of cause and effect. It is a natural law , not a moral law . That is – it is what occurs naturally . ‘ Think not triflingly of wrong, “ It will not come to me ! ” With falling drops of rain Even a waterpot is filled .’ (p23 The Dhammaphada ) It can also refer to the fruits of the action. It may be described as the law of causation with a combination of primary and secondary causes.

4. Chance or karma ? • Consider the following : I find a £5 in the road I drop a vase I win the lottery What do you think- chance or karma ?What actions may have led to each of these events happening?

5. It can be compared to storing seeds . Some seeds come to fruition quite quickly Other seeds take much longer

6. What is necessary for any seed to come to fruition is the presence of certain causes and conditions. In the same way for kamma to come to fruition , conditions must be present

7. The consequences of karma do not necessarily follow straight away . Like creating ripples in a pond by throwing a stone into it , the ripples will continue until the effects of the impact of the stone cease . Similarly the effects of our actions will continue until they are exhausted . Sometimes we can know what the consequences of an action will be , sometimes we wont. Sometimes the same action can have different results. Turn to pg 68 in Issues Of Buddhism and read about Mr Bungle and Mr Bongle

8. You are now going to consider some actions which have immediate consequences and others which do not . Discuss this with your group and write down your examples Immediate Gradual

9. ‘The wrong done by oneself Is born of oneself , is produced in oneself. ’ ( Dhammaphada p.30) One of the main points to realise about kamma is that we are the agents of our own experiences . Good actions which are often described as skilful actions will lead to good consequences or results. Bad actions or unskilful actions will lead to bad consequences or results .Buddhists would consider - can we foresee what the consequences will be? Do we have an idea what might happen ? Read The moral of the story – Abandon Ship ! What does this say about the difficulty in attempting to rely on the consequences of the action to judge whether it is good or bad ?

10. However , when determining what is a skilful or unskilful action we must also keep in mind the intention. This is referred to as skill in means You should read the Parable of the Burning House from the Lotus Sutra . (Support material p26) Discuss and write down your responses to the following : • Why is this an example of skill- in – means ? • Explain the symbolism of the story

11. The focus here is to ensure you use skill in judging and don’t simply follow rules – moral or otherwise - blindly. Buddhists are not suggesting it is not necessary to ever follow rules , but that sometimes other things are important. They would call this skilful means or upayakausala. This means knowing what is the best thing to do in a particular situation – even if it means setting aside Buddhist precepts .

12. For example , in Tibet monks sometimes gave up their monastic vows in order to take up weapons to fight for freedom . They did this believing terrible consequences would follow for them ( they would be reborn in a hell realm ) , but they believed this to be the more compassionate act.

13. Consider the following scenario and write down your thoughts : A Dutch person is helping to hide some Jewish refugees . An SS soldier comes along and asks the Dutch person if he is hiding anyone . Is it more important that he does not tell a lie and answers truthfully or that he tells the truth ?

14. Another aspect to consider is the appropriateness of the act to the person performing the act . For example ,someone who is diabetic shouldn’t eat cakes . This would be an unskilful action.

15. These – especially the first two - consequences and intention - are generally speaking ,things that most people are concerned with when making moral decisions. Discussion point – What makes an action good? Is this difficult or easy to work out for all situations ?

16. Kamma for a Buddhist means: K&U • Actions have consequences • Natural law of cause and effect • Not punishment from God-natural result of previous actions • Comes from volitional actions that is whether motivated by good / bad , positive / negative / skilful / unskilful and all actions of body, speech and mind will have karmic consequence • Individual kamma • Collective kamma – family / national etc ( some Buddhists say it is only in the human realm that conditions are ripe for enlightenment. The other five realms are still under law of cause and effect but it is much more difficult for beings to be free from their situation because of the conditions they find themselves in . One of the conditions for example is life span. A human has the perfect length of life span to turn towards enlightenment. Too short ( under 10 years ) leads to grasping caused by fear and panic ( think of a fruit fly’s life span ) Too long ( more than 120 years) leads to forgetfulness – like the gods in heaven in bliss, or beings in hell in agony. Neither condition is conducive to practicing Dharma. The Buddha talked of the ten certainties and eight endowments necessary for enlightenment. These are all present in the human realm).

17. Kamma affects future rebirths:A&E • Unenlightened actions bind to samsara • All face the consequences of actions – either this life or in lives to come if we are not enlightened • Skilful actions lead to better rebirths or enlightenment- of body, speech and mind • Rebirths themselves gather karma which affect subsequent rebirths – why its known as a cycle • Fruits of actions condition future actions • Samsara is of dependent origination

18. For Therevada Buddhists Main aim to improve kamma and attain a better rebirth For Mahayana Buddhists Main aim to help improve their kamma, kamma of others but mainly to overcome it altogether so that they can attain nibbana and escape the wheel ( believe possible in one life time )

19. So , Buddhists would say there are three aspects to this : 1.The consequence that arises as a direct result of the action . 2.The intention behind the action i.e. compassionate behaviour driven by positive intentions 3. Actions are linked to the person who carries them out For each of the categories below , give appropriate examples of actions : Good Bad Consequences Consequences Good Intentions Bad Intentions Appropriate to the person Inappropriate

20. Describe how Kamma works. 4 KU • Explain how Kamma is connected to Nibbana. 4 AE

21. Describe how Kamma works. Where candidates list features of Kamma, a sentence of explanation is required to gain a mark. Kamma is volitional actions – good or bad. • Natural law of cause and effect – good actions bring good effects, bad actions bring bad effects. • Results of our actions are visited upon us at a future time – either immediately, later in this life, or in future lifetime. • Doesn’t come back in same form. • Impossible to trace back web of actions. • Results of Kamma can’t be avoided. • Welcome Kamma as natural consequence of previous actions.

22. Explain how Kamma is connected to Nibbana. • Candidates should make a clear connection between the two concepts. • One or more connections with expansion is acceptable. • Candidates simply repeating information from the previous two questions without making a • connection should not be awarded marks.

23. Explain how Kamma is connected to Nibbana. • 'Unskilful' actions bind us to Samsara – so can’t reach Nibbana. • 'Skilful' actions lead towards enlightenment – Nibbana • • Bad Kamma is result of three root poisons. If we are unenlightened we will perform greedy actions, hateful actions, ignorant actions. • All these lead to rebirth, because we’re not enlightened. So our Kamma causes us not to reach Nibbana. • • It’s our Kamma that sparks the new existence on Samsara. • • Once Nibbana is achieved we cease to create bad Kamma.

24. Punna A skilful action is called punna which means fortunate . It is something which will bring merit and accumulate positive kamma. These actions will come from love , generosity and wisdom. Skilful actions are developed by following the noble eight fold path . Unskilful actions , on the other hand would spring from greed , hatred or ignorance , the three mental poisons .

25. Roots and Branches Three forms of bad root – Akusala Greed Delusion Hatred Three forms of good root – Kusala Non – attachment Understanding Kindness

26. At the heart of all of this for Buddhists is compassion – karuna which in turn leads to loving kindness – metta . This is central to Buddhist thinking as in the face of life which is suffering – compassion and loving kindness is crucial . Loving Kindness is at the heart of Buddhist teachings. By acting with loving kindness towards others, you will improve your kamma and attain nibbana . Loving kindness goes hand in hand with skilful actions . That is you must consider intention and consequence

27. Discussion : What is the difference between sympathy , pity ,compassion , empathy ? Are any of these more desirable qualities than others?

28. There are two main aspects to compassion from a Buddhist perspective – Compassion is a human quality which helps us in our relationships with others. To be truly effective , it should be married with wisdom. How would we deal with people in our lives with compassion ? Why is wisdom important ?

29. The compassionate motivation to free all beings from the wheel of suffering. It is generally found in the Mahayana school. This is known as the greater vehicle for this reason. Therevada Buddhism mainly focuses on liberation for oneself. This is seen as the higher aspect of the two as by helping others to realise their own buddha nature , there will be complete cessation of suffering . It is seen as the only effective way of dealing with suffering ultimately. Avlokiteshvara , known as the Bodhisattva of compassion represents this aspect of the Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism . White Tara is a female aspect

30. Discuss the following and write down your thoughts : Buddhists would say that samsara is a limitless ocean of suffering.It is therefore more effective to cut the roots of suffering than to constantly try to help alleviate suffering itself . Buddhists believe that in order for compassion to be effective and to lead to skilful action , wisdom must be present .

31. “ The most compassionate act is to free others from samsara. Buddhists refer to this as turning the wheel of Dharma. The best thing an individual can do is to cut the roots of suffering by freeing their own mind (following the eight fold path) This is more skilful than feeding the hungry ” Discuss

32. Read the worksheets ‘ Aversion to Samsara’ and write down the examples Princess Mandarava gives of the effects of karma . Are these examples of akusala or kusala ?

33. Punna – Skilful Actions Three kinds of action which are believed to bring merit are : • Moral conduct – sila • Meditation – bhavana • Charity – dana Give 2 examples of each of these from a Buddhist perspective The effects of all of these actions may be experienced in this life or in a future one

34. You should now check out the textual sources on p100 -101 of Issues of Buddhism . You should also refer to your copy of the Dhammapada and read it there. World Religions Buddhism Read p23-p26 Complete activities p27 ( your pages may differ slightly . It is the section The Goals - kamma and skilful actions ) P65- p75 Complete as many activities as possible p76-p78